Graduate students David Coker, of Townsville, and his girlfriend Katie Anstee, of Sydney, have been treated for their gunshot wounds.Mr Coker carried Ms Anstee from Cafe Leopold where she had been shot in the leg, shattering her femur, after gunmen opened fire. A bullet grazed his thigh.

Recovering from the initial shock and chaos, hotel staff shepherded the guests, including the Mangeshikar family, through the service section upstairs -- only suddenly to come face to face with one of the gunmen.

"He looked young and did not speak to us. He just fired. We were in sort of a single file," Mangeshikar, a 52-year-old gynecologist, told Reuters. "The man in front of my wife shielded us. He was a maintenance section staff. He took the bullets."

The tale of the unnamed staff member has echoed across Mumbai where, time after time, hotel workers have emerged as the people who shielded, hid or evacuated their wealthy guests from militants at the Taj and Trident/Oberoi hotels.